Aleeda_Nashe

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BACKGROUND:
The war-like Kingdom of Jelgaard was famed (and rightly feared) for it's powerful military of dark wizards and dragon riding knights. For decades, it's armies swept across the land, intent on conquering the world in the name of it's king, until an alliance of nations managed to turn the tide, break their power, and slay King Forlscythe. That was three years ago.

Aleeda Nashe is one of the few remaining Dragon Knights of Jelgaard. Born in a town nestled in a high mountain pass, she grew up strong and displayed a great deal of courage at a young age. At the age of twelve, she was given over to the army for training, where she excelled. At the age of fourteen, she was selected to train with the dragon knights as a squire. It was then that she was given her young mount to tame and train (or die trying). In the end, the girl had a more dominant personality then the young dragon and the two bonded as rider and mount. She named him 'Skyterror' in honor of his swift flight and aerial acrobatics, as well as his spectacularly lethal swooping dives.

The pair fought in the war and managed to survive it through skill of arms, cunning plans, and simple good luck. However, the Kingdom that they had served so honorably and so faithfully crumbled around them. The day that the King fell in battle, they scattered with the rest of the army. Few Dragon Knights survived that day and many of the rest were hunted down afterwards.

Embittered and without a home, Aleeda and Skyterror have taken to roving the land, just surviving as best they could. It has been a somewhat constant battle, but a skilled Dragon Knight and a well trained mount is like a small army onto themselves, there are few that can stand before them. Able to outpace an army and outfight smaller bands, the two have become brigands and mercenaries for hire. There is a price upon Aleeda's head in several regions, with the stipulation that proof that the dragon has been slain as well must be provided. Many have attempted to claim the bounty on the pair... none has yet succeeded.

PERSONALITY:
Even before the fall of Jelgaard, Aleeda was not what many would describe to be a 'wonderful' person. She was warlike, prideful, given to Jelgaard's particular code of 'honor', disdainful of those whom were not warriors, and saw violence as a perfectly acceptable means to an end!

Aleeda is not, however, without her better qualities. She greatly respects those that demonstrate strength of arms or a keen mind. She is not without compassion for the suffering, though she is the sort of person that gives a slave a knife and tells them to earn their freedom rather then freeing them herself. To her, self-reliance is the highest form of virtue. She has a strong belief in personal achievement and feels that nepotism is the death of nations and organisations; to this end she strives to always be better, faster, and stronger then she was the previous day. As she is only twenty four, she still has many years to grow stronger before age starts to take it's terrible toll on her body.

Stern and demanding, Aleeda is known for her harsh temperament. Whereas many would normally carry a smile upon their faces, Aleeda defaults to a scowl, marring her otherwise attractive features somewhat. She has rarely had time for 'girly' pursuits; hers has been a life spent in battle or preparing for war. She has never given any particular thought to male companionship or starting a family; you can't miss something you've never had, and Skyterror is the only companion that she has ever needed. Such is common among the Dragon Knights. When a human and a dragon bond, they do so for life. There are many tales of a dragon plunging heedlessly into the enemy if it's knight is slain, and many knights falling upon their swords if their dragons die before them. And though the infantry would often joke about what the knights would do with their dragons during mating season... they never did it to the knights' faces. And it would be a very, very foolish idea to think that Aleeda is in some way not dangerous without Skyterror to back her up; there is a very good reason why the dragon permits her to ride it.

SKYTERROR:
Aleeda's sword companion is the dragon she has lovingly named 'Skyterror'. It is said that dragons are the 'embodiment of destruction' and one has only to look to Skyterror to understand why. A beast in the prime of it's life, the dragon is physically overwhelming, agile in the air, covered in metallic scales to protect itself, and breathes intense flames from it's mouth.

It is wrong to think of Aleeda and Skyterror as 'master and servant', because almost no force in this world can force a dragon to do anything it doesn't particularly want to. It is better to think of them as partners, with Aleeda serving as 'first among equals'. Skyterror, in it's bestial, savage mind, thinks of Aleeda as being another, albeit smaller, dragon and is extremely protective of her. If it feels that she is threatened it will often attack first and seek her permission after the fact. It is a rare day that it will disobey a direct order from Aleeda, even if that order is painful, for Skyterror knows that she loves it dearly and her orders have always come out for the best in the past.

Being a very large creature, it needs to eat. In fact, it needs to eat an awful lot. This wasn't a problem when the pair served in the Jelgaard army, there was always plenty of livestock for the dragon to feast upon and when on campaign, it could always eat enemy soldiers. Now that the pair are freelancers, however, food has become something of a more serious issue.

Aleeda and Skyterror often raid small villages for their livestock, due to Aleeda's personal belief that the only thing you can claim to 'own' is that which you are capable of defending. Few are capable of defending anything from a dragon, so this philosophy is highly skewed in favor of the pair. And sometimes, the dragon eats a human or three. Aleeda doesn't balk at this often; Skyterror ate enough humans during the war, what's a couple more after it? Additionally, Skyterror is a monster of appearent refinement and taste, he has a special preference for both elves and noble maidens. How it can tell the difference between a peasant and lady, Aleeda does not know... just that it can.